Making Crank Calls
| Field | Humor |
| Went Obsolete | 7th July 1984 |
| Made Obsolete By | Caller ID |
| Knowledge Assumed | Location of mom and dad, Skill at disguising voice |
| When useful | When you just need to laugh at a grown up and make them feel inferior and paranoid |
Also known as prank calls or hoax calls, crank calls popularity peaked in the late 1970s. Originally pioneered by Jerry Lewis in the 1960s and revived on screen by Bart Simpson in the 1990s, many a pre-teen boy has sought out Prince Albert in a Can from the local tobacco or sundry store!
The advent of caller ID brought the fun to a screeching halt in the mid 1980s. The dreaded *69 also allowed the offended party to call back to the prankster's house (gasp!) and often resulted in weekends spent indoors under close parental supervision.
Today, the easy availability of untraceable cell phones may create a revival of this lost art.